If you are like me, you will have some emotional valuable things in your house. Things that mean a lot to you not because they are worth a lot of money, but because they have great emotional value. For me each one of these has a story behind them. When writing your letter to your grandchildren you should tell the stories behind the objects because the stories say a lot about you.

I have an old Edison phonograph. It is one hundred years old and plays records without electricity. The story behind it is that my grandfather gave to my grandmother on their wedding day as a wedding present. But it also contains another story. The my father took the old dilapidated phonograph and completely refinished it. He took it all apart and put it back together so it worked perfectly. I helped him do that. To me it is a cherished family heirloom.

Another object I cherish is a ship model. It is a magnificent wooden model of the Sovereign of the Seas. It almost three feet long and three feet high. The craftsmanship in building this ship model is very evident in precise details down to the hand tied knots of all the rigging. The story behind this model is that my dad built it from a kit given to him as a retirement gift. It took him almost a year to build. My father had a tow hitch put on his car and rented a U-Haul to drive it 1,000 miles to my house. When my siblings asked why he built a model for me, he was compelled to spend ten more years making eight more ship models. Each one a different ship. 

I want my grandchildren to know the story behind these objects. They are much more than the things themselves. They are family history. They are heirlooms. Just like your letter can be.